HouseOwnership

The table below gives details about who owned and occupied the house. The sources for information vary; the records pre 1800 are mainly manor court rolls. Every time a property changed hands, even between family members, the transaction had to be recorded at the manorial court. The names of those who surrendered and those who were admitted and the entry fines they paid were written in the rolls of parchment by the clerk. An entry fine was paid to the lord of the manor and the new owner was given a written copy of the transaction, hence the term copyhold.

All records were in abbreviated medieval latin until 1752 except for a short period during the commonwealth between 1650 and 1660.Freehold property is rarely mentioned but can sometimes be found in the manor rentals. It is difficult to trace the history of a house as addresses are never given ad therefore the only way is to use the owners name or very occasionally the name of the house.

Post 1800 there are many more sources of information although actual addresses are not used until mid 20th century. One method of identifying a house in the records is by the description of the land that went with it or the annual rent paid to the lord of the manor which often didn’t change over a hundred years.

The table is arranged over five columns. The first gives the year of the record and the second is the source document sometimes with a reference number. The next two columns record the transfer of ownership and the occupier of the property. Click on the names to link to the people database. Sometimes there is no link to the database so go to the people page on the top navigation bar and simply type in the name you are searching for. The search function returns all documents where the name searched for appears in that document. Click on a name match to view the document in which that name appears. When viewing a record that contains other names, it is possible to perform a new search on that name by clicking on the name link.

The last column shows information about the property and any comments

This house was built on a plot which stretched from Great Green to the Back Lane of Priors Hill. The site was part of the planned medieval village which fronted onto the green just outside the bailey. Pirton House was also built on this plot. The piece of land on the other side of Priors Hill also belonged to this plot.

date source owner/buyer occupier comment
1811 pre enclosure plan/Hofton George Hailey Yard and barn
1830 HALS John Hipgrave transferred ownership to Thomas Hipgrave Land.
1832 pigot – trade directory/HALS Thomas Hipgrave    Wheelwright.
1832 pigot – trade directory/HALS Thomas Hipgrave  Shopkeepers & dealers in groceries & sundries
1841 Census 1841 Richard Trussell  Great Green.  Richard  Trussell – Agricultural labourer age 40
1841 Census 1841 John Hipgrave  Great Green.  John  Hipgrave – Farmer age 80
1844 Register of electors/HALS William Hipgrave House and premises   Near Great Green
1851 Census 1851 Thomas Trussell    Thomas  Trussell – Ag Lab age 48
1851 Census 1851 James Hipgrave    James  Hipgrave – Grocer & Butcher age 22
1853 Manor court books/HALS Thomas Hipgrave transferred ownership to William Hipgrave Land.
1855 Kelly – trade directory/HALS Richard Trussell    Shopkeeper.
1861 Census 1861 Richard Trussell    Richard  Trussell – Grocer age 60
1863 Rates/HALS William Hipgrave Richard Trussell House and premises   rateable value £8 0s 0d
1869 Manor court books/HALS William Hipgrave transferred ownership to David Trussell Land   with dovehouse
1870 Manor court books/HALS David Trussell  Great Green. 183 and 184 on enclosure
1871 Census 1871 Sarah Trussell    Sarah  Trussell – Grocer & postmistress age 66
1874 Register of electors/HALS David Trussell House and gardens   Great Green
1875 Register of electors/HALS David Trussell House and gardens   Great Green
1876 Register of electors/HALS David Trussell House and gardens   Great Green
1876 Manor court books/HALS Harriet couzens Messuage. Bounded On East By Road To Shillington, South By Land Of Jeff Lucas  with stable built by Wm Hipgrave
1877 Register of electors/HALS David Trussell House and gardens   Great Green
1877 Sanitation report/HALS David Trussell Mrs Thrussell Grocer Shop with Yard. Well, drainage-Main. 6 inmates sharing 2 living rooms, 3 sleeping rooms and Privy
1878 Register of electors/HALS David Trussell House and gardens   Great Green
1878 Kelly – trade directory/HALS John Trussell    General smith & carrier to Hitchin
1879 Register of electors/HALS David Trussell House and gardens   Great Green
1880 Register of electors/HALS David Trussell House and gardens   Great Green
1881 Register of electors/HALS David Trussell House and gardens   Great Green
1881 Census 1881 John Trussell    John  Trussell – Blacksmith employing 2 men age 27
1882 Register of electors/HALS David Trussell House and gardens   Great Green
1882 School admission register/HALS John Trussell    Philip Trussell born 21/2/1880 enrolled 12/6/1882
1883 Register of electors/HALS David Trussell House and gardens   Great Green
1883 School admission register/HALS John Trussell    Philip Trussell born 21/3/1889 enrolled 7/5/1883?
1884 Register of electors/HALS David Trussell House and gardens   Great Green
1884 Register of electors/HALS John Trussell House, shop and land occupier   Great Green
1884 Manor court books/HALS Fred Eddowes  Thrussell Cottage. divided into 2 Great Green
1885 Register of electors/HALS David Trussell House and gardens   Great Green
1885 Register of electors/HALS John Trussell House, shop and land occupier   Great Green
1885 School admission register/HALS John Trussell    Nellie Trussell born 19/7/1881 enrolled 27/4/1885
1886 School admission register/HALS John Trussell  Green  Ethel may Trussell born /2/1884 enrolled  1886/87
1888 School admission register/HALS David Trussell transferred ownership to John Trussell Land bounded on S by land of F Radcliffe and north by land of John Sheppard. Great Green  piece of land with the Dovehouse frontage of 47 feet on Great Green
1891 Census 1891 John Trussell  Great Green.  John  Trussell – Grocer and Postmaster age 37
1892 School admission register/HALS John Trussell    Ethel  Trussell born 13/12/1884 enrolled 1892
1895 Kelly – trade directory/HALS John Trussell    Shopkeeper & carrier to Hitchin post office
1898 Kelly – trade directory/HALS John Trussell    Shopkeeper & carrier to Hitchin post office
1901 Census 1901 John Trussell Great Green.  John  Trussell, Grocer shopkeeper sub postmaster age 47
1902 Kelly – trade directory/HALS John Trussell    Shopkeeper & carrier to Hitchin post office
1909 Register of electors/HALS John Trussell John Trussell  House  Great Green
1909 Register of electors/HALS John Trussell  Post Office  Great Green
1910 Register of electors/HALS John Trussell John Trussell  Post Office  Great Green
1910 Rates/HALS John Trussell John Trussell Shop & post office Great Green. 29 perch gross value £13 10s rateable value £10 5s
1910 Rates/HALS John Trussell John Trussell Land. Holwell Road 3 rood 24 perch gross value £1 17s rateable value £1 15s
1910 Rates/HALS John Trussell John Trussell Blacksmith shop Great Green 1 perch gross value £4 0s rateable value £3 0s
1910 Register of electors/HALS John Trussell  Post Office  Great Green
1911 Register of electors/HALS John Trussell John Trussell  Post Office  Great Green
1911 Register of electors/HALS John Trussell  House.
1911 Census 1911 John Trussell  Great Green. 6 rooms 3 in household John  Trussell Shop Keeper & Sub Postman – age 57
1911 Census 1911 Helena Trussell  Great Green. 6 rooms 3 in household Helena Jane Trussell Assisting in the business – age 29
1911 Census 1911 Ethel Trussell  Great Green. 6 rooms 3 in household Ethel May Trussell School Teacher – age 26
1912 Register of electors/HALS John Trussell John Trussell  House.  Great Green
1912 Register of electors/HALS John Trussell  House.  Post Office, Great Green
1912 Kelly – trade directory/HALS John Trussell  Post Office  shopkeeper
1913 Register of electors/HALS John Trussell John Trussell  House.  Great Green
1913 Register of electors/HALS John Trussell  House.  Post Office, Great Green
1914 Register of electors/HALS John Trussell John Trussell  House.  Great Green
1914 Register of electors/HALS John Trussell  House.  Post Office, Great Green
1914 HALS John Trussell transferred ownership to Hitchin Mutual Building Society   Chipping Green.  conditional surrender for £258
1915 Register of electors/HALS Albert Trussell  Dwelling house  Great Green
1915 Register of electors/HALS John Trussell  Post Office  Great Green
1915 Register of electors/HALS John Trussell John Trussell  House  Great Green
1926 Kelly – trade directory/HALS Walter Carter Old Post Office.  Great Green  builder & carpenter
1926 Kelly – trade directory/HALS Walter Christmas Old Post Office.  Great Green  builder & carpenter
1929 Kelly – trade directory/HALS Walter Christmas Old Post Office.   builder, carpenter & portable building manufacturer
1935 Original rates/Hofton Walter Christmas Walter Christmas House, workshop & premises Great Green  gross value 21 rateable value 14
1935 Original rates/Hofton Walter Christmas F Males Smithy and premises Great Green  gross value  rateable value 4
1935 Kelly – trade directory/HALS Walter Christmas Old Post Office  Great Green  carpenter
1937 Kelly – trade directory/HALS Walter Christmas Old Post Office  Great Green  carpenter
1939 National Registration Identity Cards/National Archives Walter F Christmas  4 Great Green. married   DOB 6/5/1888 Builder Age 51
1939 National Registration Identity Cards/National Archives Lily J Christmas   Married.   DOB 30/4/1892 Unpaid domestic duties Age 47
1939 National Registration Identity Cards/National Archives Elizabeth J Williams   Single.   DOB 9/5/1916 Domestic Science Teacher Age 23
1939 National Registration Identity Cards/National Archives Gertrude B Standish   Married.   DOB 11/6/1887 LCC teacher Age 52

 

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